The following piece was submitted to Golf House Kentucky by Rachel Riddell about how despite the pandemic, people in our community are showing their creativity through the game of golf.

To give you an idea of our neighborhood, we have 26 homes and lots of kids! The kids are always outside playing sports and riding bikes. Back in March, at the beginning of the Stay Home order, one of our neighbors, BJ Perkins, saw my husband out hitting golf balls in our front yard and at that moment he had an idea to create a golf course. In our neighborhood, we have a basin that is full of green grass, but cannot be developed. BJ decided to mow six little greens down in the basin and two tee boxes that are elevated on the top of the hill on the side of the basin. He thought at first that it would be used like a Top Golf setup, but the kids got wind of it and decided to make it their “golf course”. The kids made holes and stuck solo cups inside for each green. They also found stakes out in the woods that are next to our neighborhood and tied ribbon as flags. BJ is not only the “developer” of the course, he’s the grounds keeper and mows it a couple of times during the week. 

Since opening, kids and parents have visited and played golf. On Wednesday April 22nd, the kids organized a golf tournament. They had 8 teams of 2, homemade scorecards, a gallery for the parents and a lemonade stand raising money for a nursing home (not sure how much was raised as I think lemonade was only $.50). 

Our small neighborhood has really enjoyed our golf course. At first it was called Ash Landing Country Club, but we had to break it to the kids that our neighborhood does not have any other amenities to be considered a country club.  I think we’ve landed on the name Ash Landing Golf Course. It is, however, a “members only” course since it just for our neighborhood kids/parents. Even though we are all staying at home, our kids are able to still play the game they love all while maintaining a social distancing practice. They look forward each day to playing golf after their schoolwork is completed. 

Below are some photos of the course and of the golf tournament. It did come down to a shootout on the last hole. The winner won by one stroke shooting a 4. It was an exciting tournament! We did not manage to get a photo of all of the kids, but we will be sure to do that at the next tournament!